Mubasher: Cryptocurrencies on Friday continued dropping amid regulatory updates in the US, Japan, and several other countries, while bitcoin slumped sharply during the week.

By 02:15 pm GMT, bitcoin retreated by around 8.8% to $9,016.64, having earlier dipped below $9,000, marking a weekly loss of around 24%, according to CoinDesk.

Meanwhile, ethereum fell by about 7% to $696.86 and ripple lost 6.18% to around $0.81.

These losses came in line with increasing pressures on the virtual currencies, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requiring online platforms that use digital assets to register with the agency and Japan’s government suspending two trading platforms for a month.

Total market capitalisation for all digital currencies last reached around $366.7 billion.